Item

From the Amazon to Africa, and all around the world, communities are on the front lines of conservation.

Whether it’s in a skyscraper or on a cul-de-sac, most people on Earth live in urban areas. But many people also live close to the forests, grasslands and oceans that benefit us all. These communities have valuable knowledge about how to live in harmony with nature.

Unfortunately, nature’s destruction will hit them first — and hardest. Already, threats like deforestation, overfishing and climate change are undermining their ability to protect the very habitats that provide everyone with food, water and clean air.

Conservation International is working to turn this around. We’re connecting communities to funding, training and technology — so that protecting nature also protects their livelihoods.

Column Item

EditItem Text:When communities protect nature, it helps them secure a strong future. But not every community has the tools, training and technology it needs to do so. CI provides communities with these resources, increasing their awareness and knowledge of important topics such as climate science, conservation and the management of protected areas, so they have the capacity to get the job done.

Column Item

EditItem Text:CI connects communities to governments and companies so that they can work together to develop policies that benefit everyone. We also connect communities with one another — so that they can exchange information and become a powerful, unified voice for change.

Image with Text Overlay Config

EditText:Working with our partners in the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, which offers grants to organizations that can protect Earth’s most biologically-rich places, CI has helped to provide more than
US$ 250 million in grants to more than
1,800 community partners — including small farming cooperatives, indigenous groups and community associations.

Carousel Images

Image

EditCaption Description:CI aided the government of Ecuador with the conception, execution and monitoring of the Socio Bosque Program. This program has already protected 1.2 million hectares (3 million acres) of vital forest and improved the well-being of 150,000 people.

Image

EditCaption Description:The health of Madagascar’s forests is intimately tied with the health of society. To improve livelihoods in the country’s Ankeniheny-Zahamena Corridor, CI is working on “conservation agreements” — arrangements that give local communities financial incentives to conserve forests for the benefit of their communities.

Image

EditCaption Description:In the beautiful, vital Central Cardamoms Protected Forest (CCPF) of Cambodia, CI is working with local communities to develop conservation plans that protect the forest and benefit people.

Image

EditCaption Description:In many parts of the world, communities don’t use natural resources sustainably — simply because there is no economic alternative. To break this cycle, protect nature and improve communities’ qualities of life, CI’s Conservation Stewards Program (CSP) benefits locals who agree to protect important habitats and the benefits they provide.

​​​​Images Carousel (2 with rollover text)

Carousel Configuration

EditText:Conservation has the power to create positive change in communities. CI helps make it happen by connecting community members to the information, funding and opportunities they need to sustainably manage their land. We’re also creating opportunities for communities to learn from each other — as well as from leading experts — to create positive change on the ground.

Carousel Images

Image

EditCaption Description:Climate change and the loss of biodiversity pose serious challenges to local communities. This fellowship provides opportunities for indigenous peoples to explore the ways that traditional knowledge and scientific information can be used to create solutions to these challenges.